Walking On A Thin Line
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: Port Charles was supposed to be where they could start over... but when a part of Brayden's past life reemerges, will he, Harper and the ones closest to them ever be safe? (AU from the February 2nd and 5th episodes, OC x OC romance.)
1. Never Truly Leave

_**A/N: Google Translate is helping me here but if I get any translations from English to Arabic wrong, I am sorry as I am new to learning other languages.**_

_**2 hours earlier...**_

_Harper had gotten ready for the day and kissed Brayden before he went to go get cleaned off… but she could see the look in Jason's eyes._

_"You're awfully quiet…" Harper responded, Jason turning to her._

_"You and I didn't get to grow up together… but that doesn't mean we're not family. And despite what Carly said to you yesterday after you kept her and Nelle's fight from getting worse, I'm not trying to use you to replace Lily." Jason explained._

_"I know you're not… I also know Sonny isn't but when he looks at me, it's like he sees someone else." Harper responded, Jason knowing that she was right._

_"I think sometimes when he looks at you… he sees Karen Wexler. You do look a little similar to her." Jason replied._

_"Scott Baldwin's daughter?" Harper asked, Jason nodding. "Damn, how many women in this town haven't slept with Sonny?" She responded, Jason muffling a laugh._

_"I think we're getting a bit off track though." Jason replied before they sat down. "When Sonny first showed up here, he was working as an employee for Frank Smith, he had to run The Paradise Lounge… and Karen was working there as a stripper, Sonny kept her high. And when she realised the damage he was doing to her, she had left." He explained._

_"She straightened out her life…" Harper responded, Jason seeing the sickened look in her eyes and the scar under her right eye… and while he knew it was partly from him telling her about Sonny and Karen, he could also see that she had rage from him mentioning Frank._

_"Did Smith hurt you when you were a child?" Jason asked._

_"No… he didn't physically hurt me but his men gunned Dad down, having mistaken him for Luke." Harper explained, Jason knowing that she still thought of Bill Eckert as her father… and despite the short time he spent in her life, Bill was the only father that Harper had known._

_"Then what led to the scar under your eye?" Jason questioned._

_"When I was 16… I was walking through the park one night. I had gotten tripped up, stopped to grab my book bag… and someone lunged out at me and grabbed me as I screamed for help. I fought back and ran but he… tripped me up. Had it not been…" Harper responded before Jason got her to sit down and sat down next to her._

_"Had it not been for Brayden protecting you, your attacker would've taken things too far…" Jason replied, Harper nodding as she brushed her tears away._

_"When Paul found out, he got furious and wanted the man who attacked me put away for a long time… and that man was. But the man who violently attacked Paul's daughter Susan wasn't… when I heard about Kyle Sloane's death, I thought "Good… I hope he suffered in his final moments just like he made my cousin suffer.''. He had it coming to him for escaping justice but Paul's other victims? They didn't deserve what he did to them… Paul was already gone after what happened to Susan, there was no getting through to him." Harper responded before she and Jason hugged._

_After Jason left, Harper and Brayden had locked the door and curled up on the couch to watch a movie._

_And they needed to unwind…_

**Present time...**

The knocking startled them and they turned back to the movie… but it persisted and Harper started to stand up, Brayden lightly pulling her into his lap.

"Just ignore whoever it is and they'll go away…" Brayden replied as Harper turned to him and they kissed.

"I know you're in there with your boyfriend who's the same age as your brother!"

"Intrusive bitch!" Harper muttered before she sighed in agitation as Brayden lightly rubbed his left hand up and down her back.

Carly Corinthos didn't know when to leave well enough alone… and Harper and Brayden were getting sick of it.

As Harper was about to stand up, Brayden noticed a red light… and immediately threw her to the ground, shielding her as gunfire completely broke the silence and Harper grabbed her Beretta 71 from her skinny jeans pocket as Brayden grabbed his Desert Eagle 50 from his jacket and snuck out through their room and the fire escape.

Carly was forced to the ground outside in the hallway… and immediately saw a man in a suit holding a gun at her.

"'Ayn bihaqi aljahim hu Dru Kayin?!" He demanded.

Carly closed her eyes and covered her ears as a gunshot rang through the area… only to open her eyes when she felt no pain and saw the gunman dead and Harper holding the gun as Carly stood up.

All her rage from earlier disappeared but was replaced by confusion.

"He spoke in Arabic, right?" Harper asked.

"''Ayn bihaqi aljahim hu Dru Kayin is what he asked. Harper? What was he asking about?" Carly responded.

"They're looking for Drew..." Harper replied before the two ran to the elevator and got into it, Carly seeing genuine fright in her eyes.

Finding the empty building, Brayden had reached where the second shooter was and shot him.

The rifle fell as the shooter screamed in agony… and saw Brayden, who was blinded with rage.

"Min fidlika, la 'urid almazida! qf!" The shooter begged… and walking over, Brayden crouched down and broke the shooter's left arm, the screams echoing.

"Taks maata wahar aratshra! limadha 'ant huna?!" Brayden demanded as the shooter coughed up blood.

"Ayn hu ... Duru?" The shooter asked before his eyes closed permanently.

Brayden stood up, seeing Harper and Carly and him and Harper hugged tightly before they all headed down the flights of stairs and outside.

"What the hell do they want with Drew?!" Carly responded, Brayden looking to her.

"Back in 2012, two soldiers were selling fuel on the black market to Taliban insurgents and Drew caught them. Tex died when a jeep hit an IED but David Archer survived when Drew pulled him away from it. When Drew was going to turn him in for treason, that's when he was abducted." Brayden explained.

"They never got their last crate of fuel…" Harper replied before Carly dialed Jason's number.

_"Carly?!"_

"Harper, Brayden and I were shot at. We're okay but they need to explain it all to you." Carly responded as Harper and Brayden held each other, Brayden lightly rubbing Harper's back.

And Carly knew that the men after Drew wouldn't care who else they targeted.


	2. The Lengths They Went To

_**A/N: Graphic flashback in this chapter, reader discretion advised. **_

_**July 22nd 2012…**_

_She understood what they were saying as she was going in and out of consciousness… and when Harper's eyes opened for longer than a few minutes, her limbs were tied up and her jaw was grabbed as she saw one of the insurgents._

_"'Ayn hm?!" The insurgent demanded, Harper spitting blood at him and him wiping it off in disgust._

_"ln 'ukhbirak 'abadaan , 'ant wakhzun eanif." Harper responded defiantly before she was hit in the back._

_She wasn't sure what she was hit with but it sent agonizing pain through her spine and neck… but still, she refused to break and looked up at her captors._

_"Altaedhib la yuetik siwaa jitha. thuma min 'ayn satahsul ealaa almaelumat alty turiduha?" Harper responded, the second insurgent turning to the first._

_"Aleahirat sahiha! nahn bihajat 'iilana 'iijadihim bi'anfusina!"_

_"Aikhtarat 'an tamut , 'iinaha-" _

_The first one fell to the ground, a bullet wound in his neck… and Harper got her left foot free from the ropes and kicked the second one between his eyes, breaking his nose as she heard multiple footsteps and gunfire._

_But the rage didn't stop, Brayden repeatedly stabbing the corpse after grabbing his Bowie knife… until Drew pulled him back after freeing Harper's arms from the chains, putting Harper in Brayden's arms and they left with her._

_In a hospital, Harper was treated for her injuries and rehydrated through an IV… and her and Brayden hugged, Harper shaking from the pain she was in._

_"They're dead, you're safe… but who were they after?" Drew responded._

_"Tex and Archer, those two jackasses are selling fuel illegally…" Harper replied, trying to get up but Brayden stopped her._

_"I know how you are, you want to go slit their throats and they deserve it and worse. But you're beaten up bad and need to rest, Darlin'." Brayden responded, lightly brushing Harper's shoulder length honey brown hair back after getting her to lie down on her left side._

_Harper closed her eyes once she felt that it was safe to, Drew lightly kissing her forehead and going into the hallway… and seeing red when Tex walked in._

_Drew charged over, covering Tex's mouth with his right hand and dragging him away when he was sure no one noticed… and dragging him into an empty room, closing and locking the door._

_"Cain, what the-" Tex tried to ask but Drew cut him off with a punch to his ribcage and then held him against the wall in a threatening manner._

_"Harper was held captive for nearly two days because of you and Archer being greedy! Where in that mind of yours do you think it's okay to walk in here?!" Drew responded angrily, Tex taken aback._

_"It was Harper that the insurgents kidnapped?!" Tex asked._

_"Don't act like you give a damn about her! She could've died and you and Archer would've just gone on selling fuel!" Drew responded, slamming Tex against the wall and dropping him to the floor before going back to where Harper and Brayden were… and Brayden looking up. _

_"Tex tried to pretend he didn't know, I take it?" Brayden asked, Drew nodding._

_"I'm turning him and Archer in for treason." Drew explained._

_"This is no life for Harper, her waiting for me to come back and praying for my safety each time I'm gone." Brayden replied, lightly running his fingers on his left hand through her hair._

_And Drew knew that Brayden was not taking this decision lightly…_

**Present time…**

Harper wasn't all that surprised when police cars showed up, lightly rubbing her right hand up and down Brayden's back to keep him calm as she knew where his mind was as he held on tight to her… and their eyes closed, both silently reminding themselves that they had neutralized the immediate threat.

Stopping not too far from her car, Jordan turned to Carly.

"Was he ever checked over for PTSD?" Jordan asked quietly.

"Not that I know of, neither of them talk about his time in the war." Carly responded, her voice the same quiet tone as Jordan's.

"If they're willing to give it a chance, I think I know someone who can help out in this. I just need to call him but not at the moment." Jordan replied before she walked over to Harper and Brayden, who reluctantly let go as Carly walked over. "What were you two doing when this started?" She questioned.

"Watching _Dial M For Murder_… Harper was about to go answer the door, I noticed the red light and threw her to the ground to keep her from getting shot and we grabbed our weapons to protect ourselves. The guns are registered to us, we have permits for them." Brayden explained, Jordan nodding as she remembered Curtis having mentioned that he took them to the shooting range a few days ago.

"I knew someone was in the hallway, threatening Carly so I opened the door and shot him." Harper explained, Jordan writing the information down.

"Defense of someone else, justifiable homicide. Did any of the attackers say what they were after?" Jordan replied.

"Who, to be accurate… they were insurgents from Afghanistan, they're after Drew." Brayden explained, Jordan turning alarmed and turning to Chase and Dante.

"The airport and neighboring airports need to be secured and everyone getting off of a flight needs to be checked over, you two." Jordan replied, Dante relaying the information to dispatch.

At the PCPD, Harper, Brayden and Carly each gave sworn statements on what had happened and no charges were filed as the District Attorney didn't deem it necessary.

Being careful with how she approached them, Margaux Dawson placed a cup of water in Harper's hands and she slowly drank it as Brayden lightly rubbed Harper's back.

"You two did what was necessary to keep this from escalating. I won't be perusing this, I promise." Margaux responded in a reassuring tone.

"Thank you, Miss." Harper replied.

"You're welcome. Now take all the time you need to calm down." Margaux responded before she let them be, Carly seeing Jason walk in and the two hugging before he rushed over to Harper and they hugged tightly.

As they let go, Jason saw that Harper's charcoal colored long sleeved shirt had been disheveled after she took her coat off… and he saw the scars on her left side as she fixed her shirt.

The look in her eyes told him that she wasn't going to tell him in the middle of a police station… and he guided her and Brayden into the nearby interrogation room once Jordan wasn't looking, Jason closing the door.

"I won't tell anyone else, you two, I promise." Jason responded, Harper briefly closing her eyes.

"Before Drew went missing… I was kidnapped by a group of Taliban insurgents and tortured for nearly two days. We thought it ended when the two holding me captive were killed… but they're still looking for Drew. They won't get any information from the others since Tex is dead and David Archer is who knows where. Personally, I hope he's rotting in hell." Harper explained.

And Jason knew from the rage in her eyes after earlier that she meant it.


End file.
